


heaven help a fool

by wouldratherbe



Series: Now That You’re Here [2]
Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crushes, Domestic Fluff, F/F, Sharing a Bed, new baby life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:28:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24656839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wouldratherbe/pseuds/wouldratherbe
Summary: “I can’t believe I created a baby that likesThe Lumineers.”“Could be worse."or: rachel shows up in the middle of bedtime and helps quinn out for the night
Relationships: Beth Corcoran & Quinn Fabray, Rachel Berry & Beth Corcoran, Rachel Berry & Jesse St. James, Rachel Berry/Quinn Fabray
Series: Now That You’re Here [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1723921
Comments: 6
Kudos: 89





	heaven help a fool

**Author's Note:**

> baby fluff because i'm having baby fever
> 
> title from 'ophelia' by the lumineers

_“1305? 1323. Am I on the wrong street? Dudley? No, it’s Dudley. Okay, 1317… 1313, 1309, 1305. 1305 Dudley. Yes? Yes.”_

Rachel pulled up to the mini mansion, finally picking up her phone and glaring at the numerous missed texts. All from Jesse, of course. She scoffed as her phone rang, his face popping up, and tapped the green button. _“Yes,_ Jesse?”

“I just wanted to see if you were at Quinn’s yet. Are you? Isn’t her house amazing?”

The brunette rolled her eyes. She shouldn’t have told him anything ever, and _especially_ not about her _teeny tiny_ crush on the girl. “Jesse, I just pulled up. And stop asking me about her house, or her, or _anything_. I’m not…”

“Declaring your long-lasting love for her? Why not?”

“Because it’s weird! And-and because there is no long-lasting love. I’m just here to drop off a baby gift and maybe talk about my duet with Sam. Are you eating something?”

Jesse smacked in her ear, and she pulled the phone away, grimacing. She hated him sometimes. “Yeah, I ordered pasta from the Cheesecake Factory. It’s so good, like... But, anyway, I don’t know why you’re waiting. The girl basically gave you her go-ahead to seduce her. Or Finn. But probably her, right? I mean, people don’t just say things like that, it’s not like-”

Rachel groaned into the speaker, reaching over her center console to grab the lavender gift bag. “Oh, my God. I’m hanging up now. Bye.”

Rachel ended the call abruptly, ignoring his yells of protest from the other end, and opened the text from Sam, confirming that she was, in fact, at the right address, and not parked in front of some stranger’s house.

_1305 Dudley Road, Lima, Ohio._

The neighborhood that circled the perimeter lake, with huge houses and towering trees obscuring those houses from view. The Fabrays’ neighborhood. Rachel recognized Quinn’s car in the dark garage, next to a white suv, and nodded to herself, opening her own door and stepping out.

The lavender bag blew slightly in the wind, and Rachel shivered as she knocked on the front door, before turning around and staring up at the sunset. As much as the girl wished to get out of that stupid, useless state, she’d always miss the sunsets. The sky a mix of orange, pink, and indigo, clouds billowing across the canvas.

Miss Pillsbury had once said, “Every sunset brings the promise of a new dawn.” It made no sense to Rachel at first, as she was just an ignorant freshman and therefore incapable of understanding Emerson’s philosophical wisdom, but when her English teacher had said the same thing a month later, it had been Quinn Fabray who’d raised her hand and explained what the quote meant to _her._

Bad days end, new birth, good things ahead, all that.

“Rachel, oh, my God.”

Rachel whipped around, staring at the girl in front of her. Disheveled, eyes rapidly filling with tears, and a squawking, wriggly thing on her chest. For her, the day seemed never ending.

Quinn just moaned and turned around, leaving the door open instead of formally inviting Rachel inside. The brunette tentatively stepped in the house, eyes wide as she surveyed the tornado that had gone through what she’d imagined would’ve been a very… unused living room. There was a stroller parked in front of the fireplace, a few cases of diapers and various boxes lying next to it. Rachel counted four blankets, a car seat, and various articles of clothing belonging to the baby _and_ Quinn all over the couch. Quinn herself was standing in front of a bassinet type thing, fussing over the still screeching baby.

“I’m trying to give the baby a bath, so… thank you, really, for… what you brought. Uh, you can put it anywhere, and just text me later, and remind me that you came by, and, uh… I wasn’t expecting you. And Sam just left to go to his friend’s house for the night, and my mom is on some sort of… I don’t even know. And Finn’s with his cousin in Cleveland, so-”

Quinn glanced behind her, staring at Rachel’s frozen state, and blushed. “Sorry, it’s kind of a mess. Newborns take over everything.”

“No, Quinn, it’s fine! I-” Rachel shook her head, setting the gift bag in front of the couch and turning in a circle, taking it all in. “Can I do anything to help?”

Quinn stared at Rachel, her daughter _still screaming,_ and opened her mouth to speak, before shutting it again. Her jaw worked itself as she tried to think, and Rachel noticed the unshed tears beginning to fall.

“Quinn?”

“No, sorry, I… That’s okay. We’ll be fine. You can go, Rachel.”

She looked down, staring at her daughter, struggling to keep her bottom lip from trembling, and Rachel thought she saw spit-up in her hair. Her decision had been made. “No, Quinn. You need help. I can stay, and I can help. We’ll put the baby to bed, and you can take a shower while I watch her, and.” She looked around helplessly, and shrugged. “I can help. Let me help.”

Rachel knew that it took all Quinn had to keep from bursting into tears on the spot.

“Okay. Okay. You can help.”

Quinn looked around the room, brow furrowing as she took everything in, seemingly for the first time. “Okay. First, I need to do laundry. Can you help with that?”

Rachel nodded, unbuttoning her coat and pulling her shoes off. “Of course. Just show me where everything is, and I’ve got it.”

After marveling at the state-of-the-art laundry room (seriously, this whole house was going on Rachel’s future wish list), and going through the living room and nursery, Rachel got to work sorting through the various clothes, and dumping them into the washing machine, or in Quinn’s basket, to be done in the second round. Quinn worked around her, finally shushing her baby and strapping her to her chest as she did her chores, putting away everything in the living room and nursery, before finally tackling her room.

Baby Ellison stayed… well, she spent over half of her time quiet. Not much over half, but a good amount.

Rachel vacuumed every non-spotless place in the house, and folded the stroller into the back of Quinn’s car, huffing as Quinn told her countless times that it wouldn’t fit. _(It was going to fit. Even if she had to_ make _it fit.)_ By the time the girls had finished folding the second load of laundry, it was dark outside, and Rachel was yawning herself.

“You can go whenever you want, Rachel, it’s okay,” Quinn murmured, eyes focused on the little onesie in front of her.

“No, it’s okay… I already called my dad and told him I’d be home late. And we still have to give Ellison a bath.”

Quinn smiled at that, reaching forward to touch her (wide awake) baby’s face. “We actually call her Beth, now.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Sam was singing to her one day, and he said Ellison was too long for the name game. He called her Beth. And she… I don’t know, she got all jumpy when he said that, and started kicking. So we decided… maybe she likes that better, too.”

Rachel giggled, smiling at the little baby who glanced over at them, as if she recognized them talking about her. “Bathtime for Beth? A Beth-bath, if you will?”

Quinn laughed as if she’d just heard the funniest thing in the world, and Rachel wondered if maybe the girl was going a little bit crazy.

It was another twenty minutes before Beth was laying in her little bath, Quinn and Rachel pressed against each other as they tried to soothe the shrill screams of the newborn, eyes wide with panic. The water was the right temperature and there was no soap on her at all, let alone in her eyes, and she was just screaming for _no reason._

“Quinn?” Rachel squeaked, hands trembling as Beth kicked her away, eyes shut in pure fury. _Aw, she did look like Quinn._

“I don’t know, I make Finn handle her baths. But he’s not answering his _phone_.”

Quinn reached in, picking the baby up and pulling her close, before swaying around the kitchen.

“Maybe we sing? We should sing.”

“Just do it, don’t announce it! Hurry!”

Rachel hummed hurriedly as she tried to think of a song, _any_ song, but the only thing that was coming to mind was the Parks and Recs theme song, and she didn’t think Beth would appreciate it.

“Oh! Oh! Okay! _Here comes the sun-”_

“No! She doesn’t like the Beatles!”

“Why not? Wait, how can she _tell_ who-”

“Rachel!”

“Okay! Uh… Okay. _Oh, Ophelia! You’ve been on my mind, girl, since the flood. Oh, Ophelia! Heaven help a fool who falls in love!”_

Rachel danced in place as she sang, playing a pretend keyboard. Quinn joined in as the song fleshed itself out, swaying rhythmically as she found the beat.

_“I-I, got a little paycheck, you got big plans and you gotta move. And I don't feel nothing at all. And you can't feel nothing small.”_

Quinn started the chorus, and Beth quieted completely, only making small squeaks when she was put back in the tub, eyes still shut as they quickly bathed her, going as fast as humanly possible, singing the song three times over as they got her ready for bed, pulling a pair of pink polka-dotted pajamas onto her tiny body. It wasn’t until they laid Beth in her crib, tuckered out for the next few hours, that Quinn huffed a silent laugh, jabbing her thumb in the direction of the door.

They collapsed against the wall next to it, and Rachel stiffened when she felt Quinn rest her head against her shoulder. The girl kept snuggling until she was comfortable, humming the song. “I can’t believe I created a baby that likes _The Lumineers_.”

“Could be worse. I should’ve sang a musical number, or something. _Once,_ maybe.”

Quinn laughed, shaking her head. “Please don’t. Not yet.”

They grew silent, Rachel looking down to play with her cuticles, and Quinn probably - definitely - dozing off. The third time she nodded down, almost falling off Rachel’s shoulder completely, Rachel nudged her. “Hey. Do you wanna shower? I can watch her.”

The blonde head nodded, and Quinn slowly got up, before pulling Rachel to her feet beside her. Rachel tried to ignore how hot her hand felt after Quinn let go.

“You should call one of your dads and ask them if you can spend the night. We have a guest room, and… It’s really late, Rachel. I can lend you some pajamas, and clothes for school tomorrow, if you want.” Quinn wrapped her arms around herself, and it was too dark in the hallway to see, but Rachel thought she might’ve noticed a faint blush.

“I’m probably not going to school tomorrow,” the brunette laughed. “I’m exhausted. But… I’ll call.”

Quinn smiled softly, pulling two towels out of the linen closet and handing Rachel one of them. “I’ll come get you when I’m out. Her baby monitor is probably in the rocking chair, so as long as you have that, you don’t have to stay here.”

Rachel nodded, watching Quinn walk down the hallway.

She, herself, settled down on the couch with the last load of laundry, mainly Quinn’s t-shirts, and folded them meticulously, smiling softly at the black McKinley phys-ed shirt, the cheer camp shirt, as well as one from a dance studio Rachel vaguely knew of, and a sweatshirt that had _Bellevue - Gymnastics_ emblazoned on the arms, with _Fabray_ on the back.

Rachel left the folded laundry on Quinn’s bed, and started looking around the gigantic house as she called her dad. Various pictures of the Fabray family were around, although there were only a couple with the man whom Rachel guessed to be big man Russell himself. Quinn was prominent in a lot of them. A baby with curly brown hair, a toddler with big, dark eyes and a goofy grin, a young child grinning awkwardly throughout elementary. On gymnastics podiums with her medals, at dance recitals in frilly tutus smiling with girls Rachel didn’t recognize. Her hair getting blonder and blonder. Quinn with who must’ve been her older sister, quite a bit older, at Disneyland and the beach and standing in front of a Broadway marquee for _Mamma Mia._

She’d just finished talking to her father when she caught sight of Quinn, real Quinn, and turned around in an effort to school her face into a normal expression, and not that of someone who’d just seen Quinn Fabray in only a towel.

The blonde walked on her tiptoes over to Rachel, and nodded her head up the stairs, gesturing for Rachel to follow.

“Yeah, Daddy. I always do. Goodnight, love you. Tell Dad I love him, too. Okay, goodnight.”

Quinn smiled back at her, and Rachel huffed a laugh as she hung up. She didn’t say anything as she opened the door for Rachel, the vent already on in an attempt to air the room out. “You can use, like, anything in here. I don’t care. There’s a bunch of new toothbrushes and stuff under the sink. Did Beth wake up?”

“No,” Rachel shook her head, holding the monitor out. “She’s fine.”

“Okay. Cool. Just come to my room after, and I’ll give you clothes.” And with that, Quinn was gone, shutting the door behind her.

Rachel didn’t realize how tired she was until she stepped out of the shower, smelling of strawberries and Quinn. She couldn’t even _appreciate_ it. She trudged to the girl’s room, and found a pile of clothes on the bed, and no Quinn, but Beth’s bedroom door was open.

Dressed, she made her way there, and smiled from her place in the doorway at the pair in the rocking chair, Quinn tracing the baby’s features with her pinky finger. “Goodnight, Beth. Again.”

She set the baby in her crib, before going to Rachel and scrubbing at her face. Neither said anything as Rachel followed her back to the purple room and collapsed on her bed next to her. Neither needed to. It also went unexplained when Rachel got up the next time Beth cried. Quinn was too grateful for the help, and Rachel was too exhausted to do anything other than what made sense. She’d analyze this all tomorrow.

All too soon, it was tomorrow, and Sam was knocking down Quinn’s door, before barging in and grinning at the sight of the girls tangled together, Quinn laying on Rachel’s back, arms wrapped around her, and Rachel koala’d around her arm, eyes shut tightly as she pouted. His phone was out and snapping a picture before either of them even began to register his presence.

“Okay. Come on, guys, get up. I took care of Beth once already, and I don’t have the facilities for what she’s gonna need soon.”

Rachel stretched, turning in to the warm body next to her as she ran through the last things she remembered. Oh. Quinn. Quinn, and Beth, and Quinn.

Warm hazel eyes blinked open to gaze at hers as a soft whine came through the baby monitor, and all Rachel could think was that she wouldn’t mind waking up like this everyday.

**Author's Note:**

> aw. well. i hope to get the single parents au, and the cello quinn au updated before next week!! sorry about the "break" i've been taking. catch me on twitter @ quintuplethreat
> 
> please leave kudos and comments, if you so please! thanks for reading xx


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